Hand form



June 3, 1941. M. H. LARSON HAND FORM Filed April 26. 1940 Patented June 3, 1941 UNlTED TS PATENT OFFICE HAND FORM Milton H. Larson, Bronson, Mich., assignor to L. A. Darling Company, Bronson, Mich, a corporation of Delaware 2 Claims.

This invention relates to forms used for holding articles for display purposes, and particularly to a hand form to which gloves may be fitted.

The object of the invention is the provision of a hand form of this character having flexible digit members of novel, efiicient and economical construction and of a nature to facilitate manufacture and use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, and from the accompanying drawing illustrating one embodiment thereof, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a form embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of one of the fingers showing a desirable form of wire mesh employed; Fig. 3 is an enlarged crosssection of a finger of the form, and Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the form base.

Referring to the drawing, I designates the bottom and wrist portion of a hand which together form the body of a form embodying the inven tion, and 2 the thumb and fingers or digit members thereof.

The part I is composed of any suitable material of a shape retaining nature and preferably, but not necessarily, of a hard composition such, for instance, as a plastic compound.

The digit members 2 in which the invention particularly resides are each composed of wire mesh material woven or shaped in tubular form and of a size to suit the particular finger or thumb desired. This material is loosely woven and of a nature to permit a lateral flexing of the members within limits but resisting longitudinal stresses. A suitable material for the purpose is composed of a series of annular or helical rows or scrolls forming successive connected convolutions with the convolutions of each row more or less loosely interwoven with those of one or more adjoining rows, as indicated roughly in- Fig. 2, thereby forming an open mesh fabric which is strong against longitudinal stresses and permits easy lateral flexing thereof within limits. The hollow digit members thus formed are not of a resilient nature but remain in any position to which bent.

The members 2 may be suitably anchored in sockets 3 provided therefor in the body member I, as by cementing, or the material comprising the body, if of a plastic nature, may be molded around and intimately adhered to the wire mesh material when the body I is molded. The outer ends of the member 2 are rounded out and closed by tip portions 4, preferably of a hard plastic material, which may be the same as that comprising the body member.

The lower end of the wrist portion of the member I is provided with a base 5 forseating in strong and durable manner.

upright position on any suitable flat surface or support. The bottom of this base is preferably formed with two planes 6, 6, intersecting along a straight line extending from front to rear of the member centrally of its side edges, said planes being substantially equally inclined from a horizontal when the member I is perpendicular thereto. This permits the hand when standing to tip slightly in either of two opposite directions from a perpendicular to suit display dressing purposes.

It is apparent that the digit members of the form are light and inexpensive in construction, easily and cheaply made, and capable of being easily anchored to the body of the form in a It is also apparent that the tubular wire mesh material forming the digit members of the form does not need to be covered to provide a digit body, but itself is of a shape and size to form the member. It is also capable of flexing within limits to permit a bending of the fingers and thumb to suit the dressing operation.

I wish it understood that my invention is not limited to any specific construction, arrangement or form of the parts, :as it is capable of numerous modifications and changes without departing from the spirit of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is:

1. A display device for gloves composed of a body member and one or more tubular digit members connected at one end to the body member, said digit members being of a diameter to receive the fingers of a glove thereover and formed of interwoven wire fabric which is bendable but non-resilient and maintains the position to which it is bent, the fabric being loosely woven so as to provide for flexure of the digit members and movement thereof throughout 360 about their points of connection with the body member so as to provide for various selective positioning of the digit members, the wire of the fabric being of such gage and strength so as to hold their given shape and thereby prevent the digit members from collapsing during placement of a glove finger thereover and also during said 360 movement thereof.

2. A display device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the body member is molded about the inner ends of the digit members so as to project through the meshes of the wire fabric and wherein there are tips for the free ends of the digit members which are similarly molded about the latter.

MILTON H. LARSON. 

